


(Re)Learning How to Fly

by b0kunoanime (lonely_lovebird)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Rating May Change, Takeda is the Tiny Giant, Tiny Giant AU, Tiny Giant!Takeda, inspired by a tumblr post, tags to be updated, they're gay and it's complicated, this fic exists in a time warp au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-05-27 13:52:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15026036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonely_lovebird/pseuds/b0kunoanime
Summary: Takeda Ittetsu is a mild mannered, unassuming high school teacher. He loves Japanese Literature, dogs, and nikujaga. He loves the simple things. He's a gentle soul, but he wasn't always this way. Once upon a time, he was the fiercest wing spiker in Karasuno's history - the Tiny Giant.When he gets assigned the advisor position for the Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club, he tries to bury the past and leave it there - but he never expected Ukai Keishin.





	1. The Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> This fic exists in a time warp AU. There is no way Takeda could be the Tiny Giant based on the canon ages but I decided to just pretend the events went as described in the original, but this just makes Saeko and Akiteru slightly older and Hinata and Daichi would have seen the finals when they were slightly younger.
> 
> Come scream about Haikyuu and UkaTake with me on my tumblr @b0kunoanime

It really all started with a colossal misunderstanding. Takeda Ittetsu didn’t look like he had ever played, or even vaguely enjoyed, any kind of sports. He knew this, he sometimes actively sought that perception. So really, it was his own fault that the Vice Principal walked up to him, dropped a stack of papers in his lap, and said with a barely disguised sneer —

“Hamada-sensei is retiring and Coach Ukai had to leave due to health reasons. I know you don’t know anything about volleyball but I’m making you their Faculty Advisor.”

Ittetsu sighed, pushing up his glasses and morosely looking at the forms and student information and knew that this was entirely his fault. He should have never come back to teach at his old High School.

More than that, he should have never been the Tiny Giant.

So, yes, everyone assumed that the unassuming Japanese Literature teacher, who was shorter than average, had probably never picked up a volleyball in his life. That was fine! What wasn’t fine, was the slight thrill going up Ittetsu’s spine. This was fine, he rationed to himself, looking over the forms. He just had to pretend not to know anything about volleyball until the team got a new coach, and then he could request to be replaced. Perhaps he could use the excuse that the Literature tests and papers took more time to grade, leaving him not enough time for the club.

If anything, he could simply be a voice in the background, never at games and never more involved than absolutely necessary.

“Why did you let them put you in charge of the volleyball club, moron?!” His sister shouted at him through the phone receiver later that evening when he called to bemoan his new assignment.

“I-Ichika…” he shakily laughed, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, “I didn’t have a choice!”

“Was it because of your reputation or just because the faculty thinks a Literature Teacher should run a sports team?” Her tone was scathing and Ittetsu could swear he felt the heat from the invisible flames licking at her mouth. If he would let her, Ichika would storm into the faculty office of Karasuno High School and rip the snotty Vice Principal a new one.

Ittetsu paused, thinking over his response. “They…don’t know that I’m the Tiny Giant, sis.”

He had to hold the phone away from his ear as his sister screamed.

When Ichika had finally calmed down enough for a rational conversation, Ittetsu explained what the Vice Principal had said as he had so generously given Ittetsu the responsibility of Karasuno’s Volleyball Club. “They think I’m just a mild-mannered Japanese Literature teacher who probably has never touched any kind of sports ball in his life,” he shrugged. “I didn’t really give them any reason not to think that.”

Ichika sighed through the phone, the static soft and hushed in his ear. “I know you tried hard to change in college, Ittetsu, but if you didn’t want to be involved with volleyball anymore you should have refused the Vice Principal then and there.”

Takeda sighed, rolling the pen next to his hand around on a piece of paper. The blue swirls were hypnotizing. “I know, but what reason could I have given them? ‘I’m sorry I don’t want to be involved with the sport that almost ruined my life’? They would ask what that meant, and then it would come out that I’m the Karasuno alum that they think made the volleyball club worth something, and then it wouldn’t matter, I’d still be stuck.”

“So you’re just going to pretend you know nothing about volleyball, suck it up for a few weeks until there’s a new coach, and then just…leave?”

Ittetsu didn’t like how cold it sounded coming from his sister but he was firm in his resolve. He had nerves of steel, when he wanted. “Yes,” he reaffirmed, clenching the pen in his fist. “I left volleyball behind for a reason. I never liked myself when I played volleyball so to these kids I’m just going to be that awkward, nerdy teacher who likes Japanese literature and gets them practice matches.”

Ichika sighed. Ittetsu could practically see her pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. His older sister had always been his hero and she was his closest friend. “Fine, do what you want Ittetsu, but don’t come crying to me when this blows up in your face.”

“Don’t worry,” he hummed, “I won’t. Because no one is ever going to find out.”

He hung up once their usual pleasantries were exchanged, ‘Call me next week’ and ‘I’ll tell you how my date goes’ and ‘Don’t forget to call mom’, and sighed. He placed his cellphone on his desk next to the only photo he had kept from his years in volleyball. It was framed, a team photo — and practically the only photo Ittetsu had ever smiled in. Coach Ukai was grinning in the back as the team crowded together around their Ace, who was smiling so hard he was crying. The gym around him was familiar, the most famous gym in all of Japan.

Nationals.

Ittetsu had never been truly happy in volleyball until that moment. He supposed that being unhappy as the faculty advisor wasn’t going to be a difficult stretch. He pushed away from the desk, metaphorically dusting off the memories that had settled around him, stretching and getting ready for bed. Really, pretending not to know anything about volleyball — how hard could it be?

———

The answer? Very hard.

Day one of meeting the team had been a disaster, but not one that Ittetsu would put under the unhappy category.

“Uh-um,” he fumbled, with his notebook, a nervous tick he had never quite managed to stop, “I’ll be your new Faculty Advisor! I’m Takeda Ittetsu, you can call me Takeda-sensei or just Takeda, whatever you prefer. Since this isn’t a normal classroom setting and I’m not your coach, please don’t worry about formalities.” He gave a quick bow. “I’m looking forward to working with you as a team!”

The captain, a taller boy with sandy colored hair, gave a quick command and the team bowed in unison with a loud, “Welcome to the team!” before splitting to start their various warm ups and drills. The captain approached him, explaining a few basic principles of volleyball before turning to the team.

“Sawamura! Sugawara! Azumane!” He called loudly. Three of the second years paused in their serves and jogged over to the edge of the gym. They each gave a respectful head bob to Ittetsu before looking at their captain.

“The third years won’t be staying with the team to try for Spring Nationals this year,” he explained. “We’re going to be working on our college applications, but these are next years third years who will be taking over. Sawamura here,” he gestured to the boy with the close cropped brown hair and tan complexion, “will be taking over as the new captain.”

“Sawamura Daichi,” the second year said with a soft smile. “It’s nice to meet you Takeda. Have you ever played volleyball?”

This was the moment that Takeda Ittetsu would look back on and know that he was actually the worst.

“Uh, no…not really!” He tried for a smile but instead it looked a little pained and he reached a hand to the back of his head. “But I’ll do my best!”

Sawamura’s smile was still soft and kind as he chuckled. “That’s okay, I’ll be here to help you, as well as the rest of the team. You can rely on us,” he gestured to the soon-to-be third years. They all nodded enthusiastically in agreement. It was much different, Ittetsu realized in that moment, than his day at Karasuno. There was more happiness in the gym in that moment than Ittetsu had ever felt in his three years playing in that very same place.

Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe this won’t be so hard after all.

Sawamura then proceeded to walk Takeda through the gym and clubroom, explaining about the equipment, the proper procedures the students took to take care of the gym, as well as who had which responsibilities and when. He had immediately started his tour with, “Please call me Daichi, everyone does,” which put him in Ittetsu’s good graces instantly.

Then, once their tour had completed, Daichi took him around and introduced him to the rest of the team on an individual basis, pausing the players one by one to make sure that they knew their new advisor and that he was familiar with them as well.

He knew the third years well from his Literature classes, but the second years and first years were new faces. The first years made up the majority of the team aside from the third years who were leaving. There was the vivacious Nishinoya Yuu, the libero, who had bleached the front part of his hair and always kept it standing tall in what Ittetsu assumed was a way to disguise his height. 

After Nishinoya, Daichi introduced him to a loud and confident player named Tanaka Ryuunosuke, who looked almost like a delinquent with his shaved head and extreme expression. But he smiled at Ittetsu, slapping him on the back in a friendly fashion, before returning to his drills.

“Tanaka and I are both wing spikers,” Daichi explained. “I’ll get you a book on the basics of volleyball, but basically we’re not really defense but we’re not really offense either. We spike and we receive and our job is to keep the ball in play.”

Ittetsu nodded and hummed, pretending as if this were new information.

“And this,” he gestured to the next player, “is our alternate wing spiker Ennoshita Chikara.”

Ennoshita jumped as if he were being caught in the middle of a robbery and he spun quickly to bow deeply to both Ittetsu and Daichi. Daichi laughed nervously, fidgeting.

“Ennoshita…” he mumbled, glancing at Ittetsu who was watching with wide interested eyes.

“Sorry!” Ennoshita said quickly. “I’m just very grateful to the team and to you, Takeda-sensei! I recently returned to the team from a break and I’m very grateful that they let me stay on the team as well as let me play! I promise to work hard!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Daichi said quickly. “We all knew you needed the time off, no one holds that against you Ennoshita. We’re glad you’re back, you can stop apologizing for it. Just work hard from now on and you’ll do great.”

Ittetsu could see that Daichi would make the best captain. The second year continued to assuage the lingering guilt of his kouhai before they were moving across the floor to observe the other two first years that Ittetsu hadn’t met. He stopped Daichi before they reached them however and asked in a quiet voice, “Why did Ennoshita take a break from the volleyball club?”

“Well,” Daichi seemed reluctant to talk about it but seeing Ittetsu’s wide eyes behind the rims of his glasses he relaxed a fraction and continued. “This year, shortly after the first years joined, the old Coach Ukai came out of retirement to coach.”

Ittetsu remembered, he hadn’t spoken to the coach once during the time he had been back with the team. It was a stinging shame that he hadn’t been able to face his old coach, but Ittetsu knew that it wasn’t the time to bring up old wounds.

Daichi was still talking and Ittetsu made himself refocus on the moment. “…and Coach Ukai was a little extreme in his coaching techniques. It was something this team hadn’t experienced since his initial retirement and a few of the first years,” he glanced at the two in front of them, a sandy haired skinny boy and another kid with a nearly shaved head, “stopped enjoying volleyball so they left. No one blames them,” Daichi said quickly, “and we’re all glad that Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita came back to the team.”

Ittetsu was familiar with how extreme Coach Ukai could be when it came to volleyball, and he tucked that thought away for a later day. “Were they the only ones that left?”

Daichi sighed. “No, we had two other players, but they didn’t want to come back. I think one of them joined the basketball club and the other decided that sports weren’t for him.”

Ittetsu nodded and Daichi, taking that as his final word, continued introducing him to the team. Kinoshita and Narita were good kids, Ittetsu could tell, but nothing about them was stand-out worthy. They were good alternates for the starting lineup, but he could see that something in them had been broken by Coach Ukai and their time away from the team. Ittetsu had half a mind to call the old coach and give him a piece of his mind, but he’d heard from the other faculty whispers that Ukai was in the hospital for heart problems.

“Usually,” Daichi said as their tour wound it’s way to a close, “the Faculty Advisor sets up practice matches with other schools. Though, without a coach or any wins worth mentioning, I’m not sure a lot of schools will consider us worth their time.”

“Well, I think the Vice Principal will be putting someone on the task of finding you a new coach soon,” Ittetsu said, but he knew it was just a platitude. The team knew it too. But they were a good group, Ittetsu realized. They deserved the chance to play a game they loved just as much as the next team.

And that was how Takeda Ittetsu found himself on the hunt for a boys volleyball coach.

———

Daichi wasn’t wrong, no one wanted to have a practice match with Karasuno.

Not only did no one want to have a practice match, no one wanted to coach them either. He had tried all of his contacts, all of his sisters’ contacts, and he’d even tried reaching out to the few players he knew from his time in school. No one wanted anything to do with the “Flightless Crows” of Karasuno.

Ittetsu had spent the entirety of the end of the school year just trying to reach out to anyone he could find that wasn’t currently coaching another team. Graduation was coming and he still hadn’t broken through any leads on the Coach front, but the team was doing well on their own so far.

It had been a small pleasure to stop by when the team was practicing just to take a look and give them a critical once over. They’d had a crushing defeat against Dateko that had sent two of their members, Nishinoya and Azumane, to separate ends of the earth it had seemed, but the team as a whole was recovering well and looking forward to the new member prospects they had scouted at the Middle School tournaments.

“I can’t wait to see who comes next year!” Tanaka was proclaiming loudly as Takeda stopped by one final time before graduation. The second year was excitedly bouncing a ball against his forearms in a receive stance, grinning wildly. “That setter from Kitagawa was something else, and that chibi middle schooler with the killer jump!” He hit the ball too hard then, sending it careening off to the other end of the gym before he jumped up and crowed. “We’re gonna kick major ass!”

It was then that he noticed Takeda lurking at the door and he flailed. “Whoa, sorry Take-chan! Didn’t — uh — see you there!” He looked nervous and Takeda smiled, waving off Tanaka’s minor rude language in favor of finally entering the gym.

“Sorry to interrupt! I just wanted to come by and see how everything is after the prelims.” The mention of their crushing loss brought a somber atmosphere and Takeda jumped in surprise. “Oh sorry! I didn’t know it was still that fresh! But I know that you’ll do amazing this year!”

Daichi, trying to redirect the conversation, smiled at Takeda. “How’s the hunt for a coach going?”

This time it was Ittetsu who brought the heavy cloud of disappointment to the room and the team fidgeted awkwardly.

“That’s okay Take-chan!” Tanaka said quickly, jumping forward as if to comfort his despairing advisor. “We know you’re doing your best! Someone will come along and coach us! If not, Daichi is a great stand-in, aren’t you Captain?” He grinned at Daichi who grew flustered at the mention of being the Captain.

Sugawara smiled and clapped Daichi on the back. “You’re gonna be great, Captain.”

As the team pounced on their nervous captain, Ittetsu found the right moment to slip away, smiling. He had never thought he would be smiling over something to do with volleyball after he left school and started studying in college. It was a nice feeling. The warmth of his own smile burned in his chest for longer than he thought possible, renewing his determination to find the team a coach.

He was riding this emotional high of love and support as he sat at his desk, finishing grading his students Literature exams, when a photo on the wall caught his eye. He couldn’t say why this photo had never caught his attention before, or why it caught his eye so easily now. He supposed it was the way the dimming sunlight now suddenly lit up the glass just right - a consequence of the change in the tilt of the earths rotation as spring was slowly creeping into the world.

Deciding to stretch his legs and give his eyes a break from the strain they were incurring trying to decipher some of his students poorly written kanji, he walked to the photo on the wall of frames filled with student teams through the years. This particular photo was of the volleyball team a few years after Ittetsu had finished school. Coach Ukai in the back was just as dour as Ittetsu remembered, and the team looked just as miserable, even as they strained for a smile.

Just on the edge of the light, however, was a boy who looked a lot like Tanaka, shaved head, and fierce expression. Ittetsu read the caption listing the team members and his heart thudded as it skipped a beat over the students name.

Ukai Keishin.

“Oh, that’s Ukai’s grandson, isn’t it?” The voice over his shoulder caused Ittetsu to jump, the scare sending his heart into overdrive and his fight or flight reflex was buzzing under his skin. His co-teacher, Tanda Yuuko, was leaning over his shoulder to examine the photo along with him. She must have followed him as he had walked to the photo, as if entranced. 

“U-Ukai’s grandson?!” Ittetsu yelped. He didn’t know the old man had a grandson. Let alone one that was clearly only a few years younger than himself. And one who played volleyball.

Tanda hummed, leaning back and placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head. “I think he’s still around here too. He works at the Sakanoshita store down the way. I’ve seen him a few times, but he’s always been busy with work or his old volleyball buddies.” She gestured to the photo.

Ittetsu felt a tiny bubble of hope growing under his ribcage. “So he still likes volleyball?” Unlike me.

“I think he plays with a Neighborhood Association sometimes, but I’m not sure where they meet.” She paused and examined Ittetsu’s growing expression of rapt joy. “Oh, right you’re still looking for a coach for the volleyball club aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Came the enthusiastic reply.

“Well,” she shrugged, “he might be worth a try. Can’t say for sure he’ll want to sign up to coach a losing team, but what can it hurt?” Then she turned and returned to her desk, mumbling something about algebra under her breath. Ittetsu didn’t hear her for the roaring in his ears. He felt as if he could fly over a net at this very moment. His search wasn’t over just yet. He clenched his fist in determination.

He was going to ask this generation’s Ukai to try his hand at coaching the team that Takeda knew was worth it.

Now he just had to find the number for the Sakanoshita store.

Dialing the store was as nerve-racking as facing down any opponent team Ittetsu had ever played in his high school career. The phone rang twice as he sweat bullets and resisted the urge to chew his nails in anticipation. Instead he twirled a pen around in his free hand, leaning in his chair and hoping that this would be the moment.

“Sakanoshita Store,” came the brusque answer. The voice was low, male, and raspy as though the person on the other end was a smoker, or had a very bad cold.

“Hello!” Ittetsu yelped, sitting up quickly. “May I speak with Ukai Keishin please?”

“This is he,” the bored tone replied with practiced ease.

“H-hello, my name is Takeda Ittetsu and I’m a teacher at Karasuno High School.”

“What can I do for you sensei?”

“I understand that the former Coach Ukai was your grandfather and that you are an alumnus of the Karasuno Volleyball Club.” There was silence and Ittetsu pressed forward. “The club has recently lost their previous faculty advisor and with your grandfather returning to retirement they are without a coach. I was hoping to speak with you about the possibility of you coming to coach the volleyball club.”

Ittetsu thought the call must have disconnected for the length of time that there was silence on the line. He even checked but the call was still connected. He refused to say something to break the silence, however, choosing to let Ukai Keishin process what he had said and give his own response.

What he hadn’t expected was for the other man to take a deep breath and exhale — “What the fuck?”

Ittetsu blinked. That was definitely a different response, but he could work with surprise. It was much easier to bring someone around when their first reaction was surprise rather than outright refusal.

“I understand if—,” he started but Ukai cut him off mid-sentence with a laugh.

“Seriously, sensei, that’s the weirdest thing I’ve heard all day, but no. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not a coach. I don’t even really play with the Neighborhood Association anymore.” Ukai laughed again, this time a little more full and loud. “Good luck on your search though.”

“Wait, please!” But it was too late. There was a click and the line went dead. Ittetsu sighed. Something in him protested Ukai’s simple denouncement of his ability to coach. He had fuzzy memories of seeing Karasuno games during college and he knew that anyone with the name Ukai was bound to have the old man’s tenacity for the game, and he thought he could remember a buzzed head setting a ball during a match once, around the time he had become a teacher.

Well, there was always tomorrow.

With a sigh, he returned to his grading and put the thoughts of volleyball and Ukai Keishin’s fierce eyes aside for another time.

———

It really was an accident the next day, that Ittetsu wound up in the Sakanoshita store before he made it to the school. The power had gone off in the middle of the night and his alarm had reset. He had thankfully woken himself from the sheer force of habit and left his apartment with just enough time to run to the convenience store on the way to school for a quick breakfast.

Before talking with Ukai Keishin on the phone, the Sakanoshita store held no grand meaning to Ittetsu so it was with his usual mindlessness that he was in the aisles grabbing a protein bar and reaching behind him for an onigiri when he heard a newly familiar laugh.

“Yeah sure, mom,” Ukai was saying as he walked into the store from the back that was clearly the family kitchen, “but I’ve got a customer, I’ll try it again later.” Then he turned and Ittetsu felt his jaw drop.

Ukai Keishin was hot.

Gone was the awkward buzzcut and slightly round youthful face, and instead stood 178 centimeters of lean muscle, bleached blonde hair pushed back from his face by some kind of sport headband, a lopsided grin, and earrings. Ittetsu felt his face heating up and he fumbled himself to the counter where he caught sight of a used ashtray holding a partially smoked cigarette and ashes.

“Is this everything for you?” Ukai asked, voice kind and his face smiling. He was giving Ittetsu a long look and Ittetsu suddenly wished he’d worn something better than his sloppiest but passable work clothing.

He mumbled an affirmative and Ukai finished ringing him up. “That’ll be ¥450,” Ukai smiled. Ittetsu felt his mouth go dry. He awkwardly fished for bills in his pocket before depositing them on the counter and trying to keep himself from gaping at the taller man who seemed more amused than bothered by Ittetsu’s silence.

Ukai handed back his change with another smile and Ittetsu’s heart decided it was cause to beat in double time.

“Th-thank you,” he finally managed to squeak out to the amusement of Ukai Keishin who laughed.

“Yeah, sure thing. Have a nice day.” He waved as Ittetsu beat a hasty retreat to the exterior of the store and down the street. He was almost to the school when his heart started to beat normally and he was in his office by the time he realized that he was so very screwed.

Takeda Ittetsu had known he was gay for as long as he could remember. It had never caused any problems in his life because he had always kept it to himself, but now he wished that his life wasn’t built on a throne of lies. He couldn’t help but mourn slightly for the life he could have had, before steeling his nerves.

This wasn’t about his love life, this was about the boys and their need for a coach. He could ask again and again until Ukai Keishin gave the team a chance. It was no less than they deserved.

All the other things he could deal with later, so he took his feelings and locked them in a cabinet in his mind with his colossal mistake of accepting the advisor position in the first place, to deal with another day.

He could do this.


	2. Aoba Johsai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're ready to take on their first practice match, but is Ittetsu?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ittetsu is an emotional person, in my perspective, so I think that he feels a lot but it doesn't always show, which leads to a lot of this exposition. That headcanon also works with where this Tiny Giant! AU is going.

Ittetsu had managed to call the Sakanoshita store two more times before the first thing out of Ukai’s mouth was “ _For the last time, no._ ” The only thing that made the rejection any easier was that Ukai didn’t hang up when he had finished. He let Ittetsu say his piece before repeating that the answer was still no, but it was admirable that he was still trying.

“ _Sensei, I gotta tell ya, maybe you should find someone else to hound about this coaching gig._ ”

Ittetsu could almost hear the breath of exhaled cigarette smoke through the phone line. He grit his teeth.

“I know, but Ukai-kun this team is something else. And they need a real coach, someone who can take them all the way, not just…”  _a wash-up like me_ , he thought, but said instead, “…a literature teacher who doesn’t know anything about volleyball.” The lie stung even as he said it.

“ _That’s great that you think they have potential_ ,” Ittetsu could hear the thinly veiled sarcasm, “ _but just because they could win a few games doesn’t mean it’s worth my time. I’ve got too much on my plate with the store as it is._ ”

Ittetsu nodded solemnly even though he knew that Ukai couldn’t see him through the line.

“I understand, but if it’s agreeable I’ll call you again next week.”

There was a crackled sigh. “ _I guess, sensei, but I’ve got to say - don’t you have better things to do with_ your  _time?_ ”

Ittetsu thought about it for a moment. Outside of trying to find practice matches for the team to work on training their new first years and working on their hyper quick attack, Ittetsu was mostly free. The school year had barely started which meant his homework load was light, and most nights he lounged around his apartment in nothing but his underwear as he watched whatever Korean drama was airing on the television that night. It was lonely, but he refused to think about the loneliness.

“Really, Ukai-kun,” he finally said, when the silence had stretched just a little too long, “if I’m not a bother then calling you is a highlight of my day.”

“ _You’re not a bother, sensei, though I wish we could have this conversation in person sometime._ ” Ukai grumbled. Then as if he were trying to cover his admission he quickly fumbled, “ _Whatever, it’s fine, sensei, call me if you want but my answer is no. Have a good evening._ ” The line clicked, there was silence, and then the soft buzz of feedback from the phone network.

Ittetsu sighed, lowering his head to his desk with a low  _thunk_. The Aoba Johsai match was going to be that afternoon and Ukai still hadn’t come around to the idea of even just coming to watch the team play to decide if it was something he could see himself doing.

He thought about Ukai’s words about having the conversation in person and he felt his heart do a funny tap-dance against his ribs. There was no way that would do anything but cause problems for Ittetsu, despite how convincing his argument might be in person if Ukai could see the passion Ittetsu carried for the boys on this team.

Ittetsu just needed a way to get him to come to  _one match_. Not even an official match. Just a practice would do. He had to see Hinata and Kageyama’s amazing trust super-quick. He had to just experience the fire that Daichi used to lead his team. If he could be in the same room as the Karasuno Volleyball Club when they were on their A-Game, then he would understand.

“Oh!” A lilting feminine voice spoke up from Takeda’s shoulder. “Takeda-sensei, are you still having trouble with the search for a volleyball coach?”

Ittetsu shot up in surprise and he whirled around. Tanda-sensei was looking at him with concern, once again appearing in the teacher’s office as Ittetsu was in the throes of frustration with the volleyball club.

“Oh, no, I…may have found someone, but I can’t convince him to come and watch the team at least once,” Ittetsu mumbled, looking away. “He’s an alum of the club so I thought he’d at least come and give them a fair try, but…”

Tanda-sensei tilted her head and placed a finger over her chin. She was only a few years older than Ittetsu and she had been teaching at Karasuno longer. She was a good senpai and Ittetsu admired her for it.

“If he’s an old player, then maybe you should ask Nekoma for a practice match!” She plopped her closed fist into her open hand with a bright expression. “I heard that their old coach came out of retirement like Coach Ukai did for Karasuno before his health problems started up again.”

Ittetsu felt as if ice had settled in the pit of his stomach.

_Nekoma_. The fated rival. Ittetsu had never asked why Coach Ukai and Coach Nekomata had such a long standing and complicated rivalry. For two coaches from completely different prefectures, Ittetsu had figured it had started in college, or even as early as high school. But still, the rivalry rang true as long as Nekomata was in charge. He felt a chill go up his spine. This might be exactly the thing he needed.

“Tanda-sensei,” he said quickly. “Do you think the Vice Principal can get me the phone number to Nekoma’s volleyball coach?”

Tanda-sensei hummed, thinking for a moment. “I think so! I’ll go ask him for you, Takeda-sensei.” She smiled and patted his shoulder and Ittetsu felt like he could fly. He was going to get them a practice match with Nekomata’s new team come hell or high water.

———

For lack of a better option, Ittetsu was stuck accompanying the team to their first practice match at Aoba Johsai, as driver and stand-in coach. The team knew of course that he wasn’t really there except to provide transportation and perhaps a tiny motivating speech, but his chest was clenching painfully and he wasn’t sure how inspiring he was going to be.

They loaded up the bus as soon as the final bell signaling the end of the school day had rung, dressed smartly in their club jackets and slacks, and looking slightly queasy but determined. Hinata, who claimed he was going to be Karasuno’s next Tiny Giant, looked the queasiest of all.

Ittetsu couldn’t blame him — his history with volleyball was apparently minimal and he was claiming large shoes to fill. Shoes that Ittetsu could no longer fill himself despite the fact that the bright moniker had once belonged to him.

The ride to the other school was going smoothly until halfway into their journey he could hear Tanaka shouting violently and Daichi and Suga were suddenly joining in and he quickly made his way to the side of the road, next to a field full of deep green rows of edamame, parking the bus quickly and efficiently.

With quick steps, Tanaka was jumping off the bus and stripping off his pants on the side of the road. “Oh my god, Hinata! Why?” His pink striped underwear was out in the open as he hopped around, kicking off his soiled pants quickly.

“What happened?” Ittetsu was quickly reaching for Tanaka’s athletic bag, hoping beyond hopes the boy had packed another pair of bottoms. A voice from the back of the bus piped up.

“Hinata puked all over Tanaka’s pants.” It was deadpan and stated as a fact. Kageyama was blinking owlishly at Ittetsu over the back of the seats. The culprit, Hinata, was still looking queasy as he laid out over the back seats, his head just barely visible down the aisle.

Ittetsu felt himself begin to panic. “Is Hinata okay?” Daichi looked up from next to Hinata and nodded, letting Ittetsu turn back to the flailing second year who had successfully stripped his pants and was now trying to wash off his thighs with whatever water he had left in his water-bottle.

“Tanaka, are you okay otherwise?” Tanaka ceased his flailing, looking over at Ittetsu and suddenly turning bright red. He reached out and took his athletic bag from Ittetsu and started rifling through the contents with a mumbled, “Yeah, thanks Take-chan.”

He pulled out a pair of black shorts and stuffed his legs into them quickly before pulling them up and tightening the drawstrings. “Uh, do you have a bag for my pants?” Ittetsu rifled through the dashboard on the bus and found an old plastic bag and handed it to Tanaka gently who stuffed his pants in the bag quickly before cinching it shut.

Sufficed that Tanaka was not going to die, Ittetsu made his way to the back of the bus to get a better look at the quietly wailing Hinata, who had tears and snot running down his face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he was chanting, voice trembling and eyes swimming with tears that leaked out and slid down into his hair and against the bus seats. Daichi looked at a loss for what to do and he stood, making room for Ittetsu who sat close to Hinata’s head and placed his hand gently atop the orange mess.

“Hinata?” He asked gently. “Are you feeling ill? Do we need to take you back to the school?”

“No!” Hinata practically snapped upright, wiping his face quickly on the sleeves of his jacket and looking at Ittetsu with terrified eyes. “I’m okay, I’ll be fine.” And then the thing that tugged Ittetsu’s heartstrings the most, the smaller boy warbled, “I just want to play.”

“Okay,” he sighed, giving in to the familiar ache in his chest at the words. “Just sip some water and get some rest. We’ll be at Aoba Johsai in twenty minutes.”

Hinata nodded, and Ittetsu would have said pathetically, but he knew how the first year felt. He could almost feel his first game jitters rising unbidden from his memories to choke him with their ghost hands. He cursed himself in his mind,  _You’re not a player and you’re not their coach Ittetsu. Get it together_.

He climbed back into the drivers seat and glanced in the rearview mirror. Hinata was resting across two seats as Tanaka watched him warily. They would be alright, his tiny team of flightless crows. And if what Daichi had told him was true, they weren’t going to be flightless for much longer.

Checking for oncoming traffic, he pulled the bus back onto the road, musing on the team under his care as he felt himself get swallowed in memories of his own days in volleyball - despite how much he wished the memories would just disappear.

Ittetsu was fifteen. He was a new first year at Karasuno High School, the school his sister had graduated from three years before. He knew that he wanted to play on the boys volleyball club, but his height was a clear disadvantage. The coach, a grumpy old man with piercing eyes, stared at him when he brought his club form.

“You want to play, eh chibi-chan?”

His face burned and he nodded, steeling his gaze and staring at the old coach. “I played on my middle school team as a wing spiker.”

Old Ukai raised his eyebrow. “Wing spiker? Well, chibi-chan, I want to see what you can do before I decide if you can play on this team. We’re going to go to Nationals one day and only the strongest can stand on the court.”

Ittetsu stared harder. “Then I’ll become the strongest.”

The memories dissipated as Ittetsu parked the bus in the Aoba Johsai parking lot and let the team unload. They were chattering amongst themselves, looking around in awe at the larger and more impressive high school. Seijoh hadn’t been a powerhouse school when Ittetsu was a student, but they were an up and coming team. It was a change to see the school now, clearly having renovated and built new buildings in the years since Ittetsu had been away.

Leaving the team to gather their things and head to the gym, Ittetsu went to check in with the school’s office and get a parking pass for the bus. The office personnel were friendly and smiled as they gave him the pass to put in the bus windshield to keep it from being ticketed by the security officers that would be making their rounds through the campus while the practice match was on.

“Are you the coach?” The woman at the front desk asked sweetly as she handed him the pass.

Ittetsu fumbled and laughed nervously. “Ah! No, no I’m just the faculty advisor! The team currently doesn’t have a coach,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “But they’ll play a good game today I’m sure!”

“Of course,” she smiled gently. “Have a good evening Takeda-sensei.”

He dashed back outside just to catch up with the team as they made their way towards the gym under the watchful glare of Daichi. Clearly something had gone down while he was away. He placed the parking pass in the bus and jogged up to the team. They entered the gym to the sound of sneakers against the hardwood floors, and the heavy thuds and smacks of volleyballs being spiked, served, and set around the gym.

Daichi called the team to attention and led the call of, “Thank you for having us!” before he was speaking quietly to Suga and the rest of the team, telling them everything he knew about the current Seijoh team.

He let them strategize, feeling a looming sense of pride, before setting up their side of the court, filling the water bottles and setting out the towels he had packed for the team.

The Seijoh team wrapped up their warm ups and practice, getting organized and changed into their temporary uniforms. Ittetsu felt like they were slightly disorganized - a change from what he had heard about their team in the recent years. He was almost positive he didn’t see their Captain on the court as well.

The coach came up and clapped Ittetsu on the shoulder, giving him a brief run down of their expectations for the practice match and shaking his hand warmly. The man seemed less than pleased that they were having a practice match but Ittetsu was always bad at reading people.

He smiled and nodded, thanking their coach again for the practice match, before calling Daichi over.

“Time to get ready,” he said softly. “And I don’t think their Captain is here right now, so play your best.”

Daichi nodded and gave Ittetsu a determined smile. “We will. Thank you Takeda.”

And before Ittetsu realized, the team was assembled in their red practice jerseys, thrown over their white shirts and black shorts, facing down the Aoba Johsai team and shaking their hands and calling out the customary gratitudes for the game.

The starting line up was good, in Ittetsu’s opinion, even as he watched Hinata begin to panic and the team slowly found themselves losing the first set. There was something missing, Ittetsu could sense, given how Daichi and Ennoshita seemed to almost want to call for a player that wasn’t there every so often. Of course, Nishinoya and Azumane weren’t playing with them still, and Ittetsu wondered if they felt the loss of their trusted libero and ace like the loss of a limb.

Ittetsu wasn’t too proud to admit that watching Hinata’s meltdown on the court caused him to want to cover his face in second hand embarrassment.

They were at set point for the first set, and Kageyama was clearly losing his cool with Hinata. If Ittetsu had been more of a coach and less of a Literature Teacher, he might have called a time out to try and regroup, but his mind was blank as he watched Daichi and Tanaka try and moderate the first years' tiff.

And then Hinata was up to serve.

It was like a train wreck and Ittetsu couldn’t look away. He watched in horrified fascination as Hinata, trembling, raised the ball and prepared to serve. The ball went up — Hinata’s hand made contact — and it flew straight as an arrow into the back of Kageyama’s head.

This time Ittetsu did give into his compulsion and he buried his face in his hands, the burning in his ears getting the best of him.

He was fifteen again, staring down half of the Karasuno Boy’s Volleyball Club across the net as he prepared to serve in his first practice match between the team members. They had enough to do a full six on six and still rotate new first years in and out of the game. Old Ukai had finally decided to rotate Ittetsu into the practice match, wanting to see what he was made of.

The whistle blew and he tossed up the ball just like he had done for years, and he made a solid connection, but somewhere between his nerves and bad luck, the connection was just off enough that the ball spun wildly to the side, careening towards the bench where Old Ukai was sitting. Ittetsu had just long enough to be horrified before the coach reached up and blocked the ball with an arm as if it were nothing.

The team laughed, but Ittetsu’s ears burned. Old Ukai was watching him with calculating eyes. Clenching his fist, he turned back to the court, determined to receive better than he had served. He was going to play on this team, no matter what.

Kinoshita’s hand on his shoulder jerked him back to the present. Tanaka was giving a rousing lecture to Hinata who had apparently expressed his desire not to be switched out. Walking over to Sugawara, he pointed at the scene of the senpai lecturing his kouhai and nervously asked, “Do you think we should step in?"

Suga smiled gently. “No, I think Tanaka can handle it.”

Then Tanaka’s voice raised slightly and they both looked over as Tanaka said something that Ittetsu felt in his bones and the warm feeling it brought washed over him, reminding him again why he had loved volleyball once.

“Here’s the thing about volleyball!” Tanaka stretched his arms out. “Everyone on this side of the net are your  _allies_.”

Tanaka of course then had to follow it up with, “So it’s okay if you kind of suck,” which wasn’t as heartening, and Ittetsu chuckled softly. It was still an inspiring speech and he wondered if they would vote Tanaka in as the next captain when Daichi had graduated.

The team regrouped, took their water break, and moved into position for the second set.

Ittetsu could see the change in Hinata’s demeanor as if it were night and day. Where he had been nervous, flustered, and clearly terrified in the first set — he was now calm, confident, and determined.

He missed his first spike, but Kageyama called an apology and they set up again, ready to try again. The second spike was slamming into the court before Ittetsu was even sure he had seen it set.

His eyes widened and a thrill went up his spine. The reaction on the court was audible, there were murmurs and gasps from the onlookers and the Aoba Johsai team that washed over the large gym. This… Ittetsu looked at the two first years with a new fire in his eyes. This was something he could work with.

He filed it away in his brain for later use. He was going to convince Ukai Keishin to come coach the team, and Hinata and Kageyama’s quick attack might just be the key to his plans. He couldn’t help the self indulgent smile that graced his features as he watched the second set progress from then on.

The team was doing well, as Ittetsu analyzed their team rotation on the magnetic whiteboard he had brought along. He caught Sugawara staring at him and he quickly covered his tracks with an awed series of explanations about volleyball he was still pretending he was learning. It was shameful and his gut twisted painfully, but Sugawara couldn’t seem to spot the lie and he just smiled back at Takeda kindly, adding commentary to the observation of the rotation.

It was a nice segue-way into the thought that he had about the current rotation, and he let out a pleased hum before replying to Sugawara — “Thanks to Hinata’s quick attack we’ve scored more than we did in the first set, but now he’s on the back row. But whenever the ball goes to Tsukishima…” he glanced at the tall and glowering first year who was positioned next to Kageyama at the net, “his blocks are every bit as intimidating as Seijoh’s are!” He grinned.

Tsukishima hadn’t struck Ittetsu as a determined player, but he had to admit that the lanky first year was a good asset as a middle blocker.

After a successful kill block, the team devolved into bickering again, and Ittetsu sighed. Daichi was trying his best, working to keep his new players working seamlessly with the other more experienced players, but it was clear that Ennoshita was not used to playing full sets, and the first years weren’t quite ready to cooperate together.

Even Kageyama and Hinata continued to have minor spats.

But despite their constant bickering, Karasuno was facing match point — ready to take the second set out from under Aoba Johsai’s noses.

But even as the second set came to a close, in Karasuno’s favor, there was a sudden uproar in the gym. Girls were screaming in excitement and the boys were chattering from their view above the gym. Ittetsu turned and his stomach bottomed out. And there he was, the Captain of Aoba Johsai, a third year whose reputation preceded him.

_Oikawa Tooru._

The Aoba Johsai Captain didn’t join the match until Karasuno was at match point on set 3. Ittetsu felt the worry in his chest start to ease. Match point wasn’t easy to overtake, even as Oikawa was brought in as a pinch server. Clearly he was a good player but surely he couldn’t —

The ball slammed into Tsukishima’s arms and ricocheted up to the upper balcony of the gym with a loud clang and Ittetsu felt a chill run up his spine. What kind of serve was that? The power and accuracy were out of this world! Ittetsu prayed it was a fluke, but then he did it again.

He could see the team chilling under the cool and confident gaze of Oikawa and he resisted the urge to hold his breath. (He would probably pass out and he couldn’t risk missing any second of the end of this intense match.)

Daichi made a quick call as the captain, adjusting their receiving pattern, and they did manage to make a clean receive, but more to Oikawa sacrificing the power of his serve to improve his aim. Tsukishima unfortunately sent the ball back to Aoba Johsai as a chance ball. Oikawa made the receive, meaning he wouldn’t be able to send the set.

Hinata made the greatest one-touch Ittetsu had seen in what felt like eons, sending the ball back to Kageyama and there it was — the quick attack that Ittetsu knew was going to push Karasuno back into the spotlight.

The ball slammed into the court just past a shocked Oikawa and it was all over.

“Incredible,” he whispered. Suga was exclaiming something to him, about Hinata and Kageyama’s special attack, but his mind was blank. Seeing Hinata flying above the net had stirred something deep within his chest.

Ittetsu felt the relief coursing through his veins as if he’d been on the court himself and he exhaled in relief. He hadn’t felt the anxiety of a game in years — and this match had wound him up like a spring, tense and anxious and ready to jump. It was an old feeling and Ittetsu felt a chill to realize that the tension building in his chest was the old buried desire to  _play._

He shoved it aside in favor of congratulating the boys with a speech that he couldn’t even remember what was coming out of his mouth. Suga had said that he should give them feedback but all he could think of was how incredible this team was, and how far they could go.

_Hinata above the net, above and beyond the blockers, slamming the ball into the court as if he could fly._

Ittetsu escaped the team and avoided his feelings with ease, choosing instead to run around getting the team ready to head back to Karasuno for their last meeting. He checked out with the front office, accepting the congratulations from the last office worker with a light blush and a nervous smile. He readied the bus, checking with the gym that they had packed all of their bags and left nothing behind.

_Somewhere in the world, there is a fateful encounter happening at this very moment. It could be happening somewhere far away, in a completely different country, or on the other side of the globe._

The team loaded onto the bus slowly, quietly, as if the shock of their own victory was finally setting in past the adrenaline and the heat of the moment. They smiled and thanked Ittetsu as they loaded and his heart felt warm.

_Or maybe it’s on a small eastern island…_

Japan’s bright sunset was brilliant against the sky. It was just warm enough not to be cold and the last of the spring blossoms were drifting through the air, making room for the green leaves on the trees surrounding the school yard.

_…in a tiny northern town, in an ordinary high school, in a regular volleyball club_.

Ittetsu pulled out of the Aoba Johsai parking lot with a soft smile on his face.


	3. I Beg of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It really is down to the wire and all that Ittetsu has left is tenacity and the skills to put pride aside and simply beg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to Sammie_dangerous for boosting my self-esteem so high I actually finished this faster than I probably would have ordinarily.
> 
> Two notes of importance: I like mixing Japanese and English and so therefore when things have proper names in Japanese I use them, like nikuman instead of meat bun. And because "onegaishimasu" is incredibly polite and sometimes translated as begging I changed up the dialogue to include Ittetsu actually "begging".

_Leave the coach problem to me,_ he had told Daichi with confidence. He wasn’t feeling quite as confident now, his cell phone against his ear and the gravel filled voice of Ukai Keishin in his ear.

“Sakanoshita,” he said brusquely. It was late, Ittetsu shouldn’t have been calling, but he felt the high of the match still coursing through his body as if he’d played it himself. He couldn’t let this moment pass him by. This team was something else and they deserved a coach, and not just any coach but one that could take them somewhere.

“Ukai-kun? This is Takeda Ittetsu, from Karasuno High School.”

“Not giving up, huh?”

“Ah,” Ittetsu stammered, feeling his brief moment of courage drain quickly from his chest like the blood from his face. “I’m sorry, I know that I’ve been bothering you Ukai-kun. If this is a bad time, I can call again later.”

There was a long pause. It was long enough that once again Ittetsu wondered if the call had accidentally disconnected. His cell phone said they were still on the line, however, and he waited patiently, twirling a pen in his hand.

“I just saw some of your players,” Ukai finally said, shocking Ittetsu. It certainly wasn’t what he'd been expecting, but he had heard that the team was planning on grabbing some nikuman on their way home from the school campus. He hadn’t realized that would put them at the Sakanoshita store, but clearly it was the closest store open this late.

Ittetsu only realized he hadn’t responded when Ukai continued. “Sensei? You still there?”

“Yes!!!” He jumped quickly. “I wasn’t aware you knew any of the team, Ukai-kun.”

Ukai sighed on the other end of the line. Ittetsu could almost see the cigarette smoke leaving his lips. “I don’t know them well, but I know who they are when they come by. Doesn’t Karasuno have a nutrition plan for their athletes? They don’t seem to eat anything but the nikuman and protein bars.”

Ittetsu chuckled. He could hear the concern in Ukai’s voice but he knew it wasn’t the right time to push his luck. “They don’t have a coach to set out their nutritional guides. But they do have their Captain who tries to look out for them.”

“Mmm, the short haired third year.”

“Yes. His name is Sawamura Daichi. He’s a good student. We actually just returned from a practice match and I’m sure he was trying to make sure they ate to replenish their strength.”

Ukai hummed again. “Yeah, well I sold out of nikuman but they left with protein bars.” His voice sounded choked, like there was an emotion strangling his vocal chords, but he cleared his voice quickly. “Anyway, I know you want me to be their coach, sensei, but —,” Ittetsu jumped quickly, cutting him off.

“If you would just come watch them play, Ukai-kun, I think you would see what I see in them. Especially if you’ve seen them in the store before, you must be able to see how amazing they are. They’re not just good kids, Ukai-kun, they’re a good _team_.” He tried to put all the feelings from the Seijoh match into the last word, the things that he had experienced, and the memories that Hinata above the net had brought forward.

Ukai sighed. “I really can’t, sensei, for a lot of reasons. I have to go, we’re about to close shop. Have a good night, sensei.”

Ittetsu’s strangled protest was cut off as the phone clicked with the sound of the call ending. Ittetsu sighed, setting his cellphone on the desk before groaning loudly in the dark of the teacher’s office and letting his head fall against his desk with a heavy thud.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

Turning his head on his desk, he looked at the stack of graded exams he would be handing back the next school day and noticed a pink post-it note that had not been there before he left for the Seijoh game. He sat up quickly and felt the excitement rekindle and a smile stretched across his face unbidden. There, in the handwriting he knew belonged to Tanda-sensei, were the words that were about to change his chances with Ukai Keishin.

‘Here’s the number for Coach Nekomata! Good luck Takeda-sensei!’

Taking a deep breath, Ittetsu stilled his shaking fingers and dialed the number.

———

Of course, Coach Nekomata wasn’t available when he called, so Ittetsu left a message. He went through the motions of his night, hoping against all hope that Coach Nekomata would give the team a chance and call them back.

The next morning there was no message for him on his phone and he sighed, going straight into his classes without a second thought to volleyball. He did enjoy teaching, there was always something about how the poetic nature of Literature could somehow capture the feelings that Ittetsu had kept locked inside him when he was an angry teenager. His sister had laughed when he had told her about his choice to major in Japanese Literature in college, but she had still been supportive.

“Ittetsu,” she had laughed at him. “You’re the definition of a dumb jock! Your grades weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either! And you want to study _literature_?” He’d flushed and stuffed more maki rolls into his mouth, choosing to ignore Ichika in favor of the tiny mountain of sushi he’d ordered from the conveyor belt.

But Ittetsu had always found solace in the deep and complicated words that were strung together to express emotions, and their soft and water-like rhythms were a balm to his still stinging soul — a soul smarting from the pain of his last few weeks at Karasuno and the way he had parted with Old Ukai and the volleyball club.

When the final bell tolled signaling the end of the school day, Ittetsu nearly jumped out of his skin. He was sitting at his desk, staring at the wall behind his computer with blank eyes. He had been caught up in memories again, and he wondered what had brought this fountain of nostalgia to his mind. He remembered the way the practice match at Seijoh had ended and he nodded to himself.

_I’ll just have to fly_ , his own voice said confidently in his memories. And, oh, how Hinata had flown in that match. Ittetsu could almost imagine the pair of iridescent black wings spread behind the tiny first year, reaching for new heights.

“So I heard about your practice match at Aoba Johsai!” Tanda-sensei cheerily said, appearing at Ittetsu’s shoulder. “Your team won against one of the top 4 in the prefecture! Congratulations Takeda-sensei!” 

Ittetsu jumped and turned quickly, offering a bow and a furious flush climbing his neck. “Th-thank you, sensei!” 

Tanda-sensei hummed, pulling up a chair and looking at Ittetsu with concern. She was the first teacher that Ittetsu had met upon taking his current position, and she had taken it upon herself to make sure that Ittetsu was successful in everything he did. Even being the advisor for the boy’s volleyball club.

“Did you get in contact with Coach Nekomata?”

“Ah…no.” He sighed.

“I’m sure it won’t hurt if you try again!” She beamed. “You’ve always been the persistent kind of person, Takeda-sensei. I’m sure if you worked hard with your team, and towards finding them a coach, that karma will be on your side and you’ll be able to set a practice match with Nekoma High School!”

He gave Tanda-sensei a small, but appreciative smile.

“Oh that reminds me!” She sat up straighter, giving Ittetsu a curious look. “How is your search for a coach going?”

Ittetsu felt his blossoming hope crumble under the depressive weight of Ukai Keishin’s latest refusal and he groaned loudly before curling up to the desk, and pressing his forehead to the cool wood with a heavy thud.

“Ah?? Ah??? Takeda-sensei, are you okay? Takeda-sensei!”

———

Practice that night was a blur. Ittetsu knew that as soon as he left practice, he would head to the Sakanoshita Store to give it his best try in person. He’d even brought his suit jacket to work that morning, hoping that he would have been able to speak to Nekomata and have a good reason to approach Ukai.

But his resolve was solid and his determination beyond reason, so with heavy heart and heavy legs, he stalked his way out of the gym to the Teacher’s Office and gathered his things. He had a plan. He was determined. He was ready to face the (incredibly handsome) scary Ukai Keishin and beg for just one moment of his time to give the boys of the Karasuno Volleyball Club a chance.

The door of the Sakanoshita Store loomed in front of him in an instant and he realized that he had walked to the store entirely consumed with the panic of what he was going to say to Ukai in person.

“Deep breaths, Ittetsu,” he mumbled to himself. The lights from the store flooded the street in a calming yellow hue. He could see Ukai behind the counter, leaning against the wall, a weekly manga volume in his hands.

The moment was now or never, Ittetsu rationalized. Nekomata may never return his call and if so, Ittetsu needed to put everything into this moment. This was his last true chance to plead for Ukai to give his boys one try, one practice. Just one moment — to see in them what Ittetsu could see as plain as the nose on his face.

Gripping the handle, he pulled open the door to the sounds of a bell jingling to signal his appearance. Ukai looked up from his manga, stiffening. He put his cigarette into the ashtray but kept it lit.

“How can I help you?” His voice was gentle, open, and Ittetsu realized he didn’t know that standing before him was the voice that called him over the phone almost on a daily basis. True, Ittetsu had left off calling since the last time after the Seijoh match, but it had been a frequent enough occurrence that somehow Ittetsu thought that Ukai would recognize him on sight.

When Ittetsu didn’t respond, Ukai smirked and raised an eyebrow. “You okay there?”

“Ah! Yes! Um,” Ittetsu blurted out, quickly clearing his throat. “Sorry for the intrusion, Ukai-kun, but I wanted to talk to you in person rather than the phone.”

Like snow melting for spring, the realization dawned on Ukai’s face slowly and with a good deal of trepidation on Ittetsu’s part. Ukai’s eyes grew wide, his jaw dropped, and Ittetsu could see a host of emotions flit across Ukai's face before he finally landed on disbelief.

“Sensei?”

Ittetsu bowed low, and looked back at Ukai who was now openly gaping. “It’s a pleasure to meet you face to face, Ukai-kun. I know we’ve spoken many times but I would like to talk to you once more about coming to Karasuno to coach the boy’s volleyball club.”

Ukai stiffened and there was a near instantaneous change. His posture went from open and raw disbelief to closed off and defensive. He grit his teeth, grabbing his cigarette and manga and turning his back to Ittetsu and sitting on his chair with an audible thunk. “Never expected you to be so young, sensei,” he grumbled. Ittetsu moved forward slightly and furrowed his brow.

“Ah, yes, well Hamada-sensei retired last year and I was put in charge of the volleyball club on short notice. I’ve only been a teacher for six years.”

Ukai snorted and Ittetsu saw a small puff of smoke waft up around his ears. “How old are you, sensei? 28? 29? I can see why you feel unprepared to run a school club.”

Ittetsu sighed. “29, Ukai-kun. But I don’t think that age is any indicator of experience or inexperience.”

Ukai hummed, flipping a page in his manga volume with an air of nonchalance. The set of his shoulders gave away the tension in his frame. There was a long moment of silence as Ittetsu looked at his broad shoulders and wondered what had weighed down the other man so much in so short a time. He was only four years younger than Ittetsu but he seemed tired beyond his years.

“This may sound persistent, but please — I beg you.” Ittetsu watched as Ukai’s shoulders grew even more tense, drawing up towards his ears with discomfort. He continued, despite the warning signs, the determination he had built up pushing him towards the finish line, whatever end it may be.

“I’m ashamed to be so useless to the team. I’m not a real coach, and I need help. These kids have amazing potential, and I think you would be a real asset to their growth. Please, find it in your heart to give them a chance, to instruct them in the ways that I can’t…Ukai-kun.”

Ukai puffed out a breath of smoke and sighed. “You really don’t give up, do you Takeda-sensei.”

Ittetsu wasn’t sure if that was an insult or a compliment, so he pushed forward again.

“Yes,” he clenched his fist. “That’s my only strong point.” The mental image of staring down Old Coach Ukai on his first day in the club sprang to mind, the nights he spent jumping to touch the basketball backboard at the park near his house, and the sweat and tears that carried him above the wall of blockers at Nationals floated past his eyes as if he were viewing his own memories through someone else’s eyes.

“I really don’t care how many more times you ask me, sensei,” Ukai grumbled, “but really the answer is still and always will be — _no_.” Ittetsu’s heart sank like a stone. “I’m not gonna coach your team. My grandpa was the famous coach, not me. Like I said, I’m not the coaching type.”

He closed his manga volume with a clap. “I know you need a technical coach, but really I know you’re only after my family name.” He leaned back, looking over his shoulder at Ittetsu as if daring him to deny it.

( _No one on earth should have the right to be that beautiful,_ the tiny voice in Ittetsu’s mind protested.)

Ittetsu weighed his options and remembered the multiple other coaches and former players he had called. There was something about having a Ukai at Karasuno that sparked something in his mind and sent his heart racing. “To be honest,” he started slowly, “that’s partially true.” His eyes looked at the base of the counter and he counted the nails in the floorboards as he carefully chose his words.

“Ever since your grandfather, the Old Coach Ukai, retired rather suddenly — the other schools have gotten farther and farther out of reach. No one wants anything to do with Karasuno or the ‘Flightless Crows’, and as the fill-in coach, I can’t even run a practice game.”

The words were heavy in Ittetsu’s mouth but they were the truth. He could have used his own name to bring the team back into the spotlight, but it was too late to change his mind. Ittetsu was sticking to the shadows, and so was the Tiny Giant.

He needed a Ukai to stand up and demand the respect the team deserved.

“So you thought that you could change everything with a name-brand coach, is that it?” Ukai leaned against the counter on an elbow and blew smoke into the air. Ittetsu wished he would turn back around and face him, but he wasn’t sure if seeing Ukai’s face wouldn’t be more damaging than not. He wasn’t sure if he could handle the rejection coming from those breathtaking eyes.

But if Ukai would only face Ittetsu, maybe he would see the determination and the fire he carried inside. Maybe, if he were looking at Ittetsu, he might change his mind.

“Please, I beg you Ukai-kun!” It was a last ditch attempt at a sinking argument and Ittetsu knew it. He threw himself into his best saikeirei despite knowing that Ukai wasn’t going to look his way — the other man had already made up his mind.

There was a long pause as Ukai sighed. Ittetsu felt his heart pick up it’s pace in anticipation. He could almost hear the cursing and the demands to never hear from Ittetsu again — the demands for his privacy and the ultimate rejection.

And then — “Look, I can tell this means a lot to you, and you’re serious about it. But I have no desire to babysit a bunch of pain in the ass high schoolers.”

It wasn’t the same firm ‘no’ that Ittetsu had received at the beginning of the night and it was closer to the soft ‘no’ he had received multiple nights on the phone. Ukai had relaxed, his shoulders were slumped forward, and he was looking towards the wall. If Ittetsu could see his face, he thought that Ukai most likely had a dejected look plastered across his lips and eyes.

He took a deep breath. There was still hope.

“I’ll come back again another day,” he said simply before booking it to the door. He could hear Ukai swearing after him but he couldn’t help but smile. Maybe next time, he thought to himself, he could get Ukai to look at him.

He would love to look at the other man’s face just a little bit longer.

With a lurch in his chest he mentally backtracked as his feet carried him towards his tiny apartment. He barely knew Ukai, and the man was clearly annoyed by his singular persistence. Even if he did agree to a conditional coaching position, there was no way he would ever look twice at Takeda Ittetsu, the nerdy, bookish Literature Teacher with no apparent self-respect.

He sighed, wrenching open his door with a jarring shove — after unlocking it he always had to force it open just so because of how the building had settled after the multitude of earthquakes that rocked Japan over the years, creating just enough slant in the doorframe to jam the door when it was closed.

Kicking off his shoes he made his way to his kitchen to make himself some tea and ruminate on the crush he knew he had and the regrets he would carry forever, adding falling for Ukai Keishin to the ever growing list.

Even if Ukai Keishin would look his way, or was even bisexual, there was still the fact that the man was the grandson of Ukai Ikkei — and Ittetsu knew that no matter what he said or did, Old Coach Ukai would never forgive him.

He huddled into his couch dejectedly, cradling the hot mug of tea and setting his glasses on the small kotatsu. He still hadn’t removed the blanket from winter and he made a mental note to take it off on his next weekend and launder the heavy quilt. He shoved the gloomy thoughts aside, pressing his fingers into his eyes.

If tears leaked from the corners, he pretended he didn’t feel them.

———

“Takeda-sensei, you have a call on hold,” the school secretary said, leaning around the corner. Ittetsu jerked his head up and stared wide eyed at her before she gestured again and he fumbled towards the phone on his desk.

“Yes, thank you!” He said quickly before picking up the receiver and pressing the button to connect him. “Hello?”

The gravel filled voice on the other end shot though his heart and Ittetsu was suddenly sixteen, heading into the end of his second year of high school, watching as Coach Ukai and another man bantered quickly — jabbing each other with words and wicked smiles.

“Why does Coach like that old man so much?” the first year middle blocker asked from behind Ittetsu. “He’s a grouch and he has a vicious team. I’d like to not get my ass kicked by Nekoma once before I graduate,” he grumbled.

“Nekomata and Ukai have been rivals as long as I’ve been on this team, and as long as the third years had been on the team during my first year as well. I don’t think we’ll ever see a day when Karasuno and Nekoma don’t have some kind of frenemy rivalry,” the Captain said with a grin, the voice in Ittetsu’s memory having dulled with time. 

His mind was quickly caught back up to the present however as Nekomata answered, “Yes, I heard you called for me a few days ago? Something about setting up a practice match with Karasuno?”

“Yes! I’m so sorry to bother you sir,” Ittetsu jumped on the question quickly, his words spilling out at a speed that was trying to keep up with the lightning fast thoughts racing through his mind. “I’m Takeda Ittetsu, the faculty advisor for Karasuno’s Volleyball Club and I know that we haven’t had any practice matches with Nekoma in the recent years but I was hoping we could rekindle that relationship and —,” Nekomata huffed, cutting him off.

“Takeda?” He grumped over the line. Ittetsu felt his heart practically stop and he held his breath. “You wouldn’t happen to be that special chibi player that Ikkei used to play?”

Ittetsu felt his stomach hit the floor and his hands grew clammy, his heart thundering in his ears.

“Ah, Coach Nekomata,” he fumbled, knowing that despite keeping his secret from Karasuno, he couldn’t pull the wool over the eyes of the old man he’d played against for three years, in multiple practice matches — and then at his final Trashcan Showdown in Tokyo. “I didn’t think you would remember me…” He was sweating now, his heart racing.

“How could I forget the little twerp that nearly cost us our spot at the top?” Nekomata laughed, his voice a little hoarse and showing his age. “What are you now, the coach for the team? I heard about Ikkei’s retirement.”

“Ah, no, sir. I’m the faculty advisor. I’m a teacher,” he repeated. “And I’m trying to find the team a new coach while we start our practice games for this year…”

“Who are you looking at for the new coach?” Nekomata had always been a decent fellow, despite his outwardly gruff attitude, and Ittetsu was grateful that they had moved the conversation away from his role in Karasuno’s history with volleyball. “Someone from your team?”

“No, I'm trying to convince…Ukai Keishin. You may remember him, he played a few years after me, he’s Old Ukai’s grandson?”

Nekomata hummed a thoughtful affirmative.

“He’s not…currently willing to come and give the team a trial, though, Nekomata-san. Which is why I’m calling you.” Ittetsu held his breath again, the moment he had been leading up to finally here. He wasn’t sure if the old Nekoma coach would want to start up the Trashcan Rivalry once again, but having come out of retirement, Ittetsu hoped that this was his chance.

“ _Hah_?!” Nekomata practically shouted. Ittetsu held the phone away quickly before bringing it back to his ear. “You mean that brat Keishin won’t give the team a chance despite all the hard work his grandfather put into it?”

Ittetsu cringed. That wasn’t _exactly_ what he wanted Coach Nekomata to get out of his long and complicated story, but it was good enough if it meant he could get Nekomata to agree to the practice match. “Well, sir, it’s just that the team has been falling behind these last few years…”

“Don’t I know it!” Nekomata huffed.

“…and this is why I think it would be good for them to have such a serious opponent to set a standard for them to aim for as a team.”

Nekomata was silent for a long moment and Ittetsu knew he’d hit the right nerve. Nekomata harrumphed and Ittetsu could almost see him in his mind’s eye, grouchy, squat, and arms crossed defiantly as he watched the two teams face down. He imagined that the Nekomata today had more grey hair and a few more wrinkles, but he would have to see for himself.

“Will Keishin be there if I agree to this practice match?”

The question gave Ittetsu pause. He deliberated for a few seconds before deciding to play it safe. “I can’t make any guarantees, Coach Nekomata, but I think that if Ukai-kun knew the team were going against their long-standing rivals, he may be more invested in the outcome of the game.”

Coach Nekomata gave a final _‘humph’_. “Alright, fine. Let’s plan for the end of Golden Week. We’ll take a train and come play in your home gym, so when we win you won’t have the excuse of ‘an away game in an unfamiliar gym’.”

Ittetsu beamed and his face felt like it might tear from smiling so hard. “Of course! Thank you so much Coach Nekomata! We are so grateful to you and look forward to seeing you at the end of Golden Week!”

He bowed, mostly out of habit, and from the other end of the line Nekomata laughed. “Don’t strain yourself, squirt. We’ll see you Golden Week.” And then he hung up.

Ittetsu felt like a kettle ready to burst, as if could open his mouth and scream. He’d never had any personal feelings towards the Trashcan Showdown rivalry before, but now that he knew Nekomata was willing to bring his team all the way from Tokyo just to give, not only Karasuno - but also Ittetsu - a chance, he was beyond ready to work hard to see that the team could do their best.

Now to tell Ukai Keishin.


	4. The Drinking Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ukai Keishin needs to learn when not to get his hopes up - especially when it comes to attractive ruffled teachers he meets in his shop who turn out to be Faculty Advisors that hound him to coach a volleyball club.
> 
> Oh really, that was a statistical unlikelihood to happen more than once? Just his luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is shorter than the others, I've been hitting a wall with the scene that will be following immediately after the end of this chapter. The song theme for this chapter is Drinking Class by Lee Brice. It just kept bugging me while I was writing so this chapter mainly focuses on Keishin's internal feelings.

Tonight was one of the nights that Keishin was glad the Neighborhood Association was more of a drinking group than a volleyball group. He looked at his beer and frowned. As soon as the sensei had left the store, he’d called the team and set up a time to meet at the izakaya they frequented when they weren’t wasting time messing around with a volleyball in Keishin’s backyard or the local recreation center.

“Are you even here, Keishin?”

Keishin started, sloshing beer down the front of his track jacket. He groaned, reaching blindly for a napkin that Shimada handed him with a smirk as he tried desperately to pat himself down, the sickly sweet and sour sent of the beer already wafting to his nose. His mother was going to kill him. He’d barely had one drink and she was going to think he’d found a liquor store and drank it.

Takinoue slapped him hard on the back as gave up, tossing the wad of disposable paper onto the table and leaning away from the table. “You seem like you’re out of it, what’s on your mind?” The two looked at him with wide and expectant eyes and he knew he was not getting out of the izakaya without telling them _something_.

“I told you about that sensei from the school that’s been calling me?” He asked, checking that they had actually paid attention the last time he had complained at their drinking meeting. They both nodded their affirmative and Keishin sighed again. “Right, well he came into the store. Not only is he a lot younger than I expected, he’s that…guy I told you about. The flustered one.”

Takinoue Yuusuke and Shimada Makoto were the only two people that knew about Keishin’s bisexuality. They’d been on the receiving end of his drunken wailing about both men and women over the last few years since they’d left high school, and this was no exception.

“The one you saw in the store _once_ and literally wailed about for a week after?” Takinoue stared hard at his best friend. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

Keishin managed a barely intimidating glare, as intimidating as he could be with beer down his front, and huffed. “Shut up Tattsun, it’s not like you’ve had any dates recently, and suddenly the guy I had a passing interest in is the teacher who’s been hounding me to coach the damn volleyball club.”

Shimada hummed, taking a deep sip of his beer before setting it down and giving Keishin a level look. “Why don’t you want to coach the team, Kei-kun? Would it really be that bad? It’s not like you’re doing much outside of the occasional night where we screw around with a ball or drink our asses off, and working at the store.”

The smoke in the izakaya made the scenery hazy but that didn’t stop Keishin from looking off towards the door, past the other patrons, to something that wasn’t there except in his memories. He ground his teeth and reached for a cigarette, lighting it up and taking a drag before answering.

“It’s something my gramps always wanted, I know it. And I never wanted to follow his life choices. The old man had it out for me from the minute I stepped onto the court,” he harrumphed. The other two nodded. Being on the team with Keishin in High School afforded them the unique perspective of having experienced watching Ukai Ikkei pushing his oldest grandson beyond his own limits in attempt to make Keishin the best player on the court.

Keishin took another drag, appreciating his friends for waiting him out. “Gramps always wanted me to be like the Tiny Giant, the best player on the team. Said I had to be the control tower, but I could never live up to his standards. If I couldn’t even live up to that old Crow’s idea of success, how could I ever take a team to Nationals as a coach?”

Takinoue and Shimada were silent for several long moments, each taking a sip of their drinks or polishing off the last of the snacks they had ordered. Keishin figured they wouldn’t say much and the matter was over, _So sorry Keishin, that sucks that the guy you thought was cute is the guy you’ve been avoiding for over a month_ , or _Sorry Keishin, better luck next time_. What he didn’t expect was Shimada slamming his glass back on the table and leaning close to Keishin’s face, eyes full of fire.

“That’s a load of bullshit, Keishin, and you know it.”

Keishin reeled back, spluttering. “Wh-what?”

Shimada took a deep breath. “Sure, your old man had it out for you, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t a _damn good player_. I don’t know what being benched for Kuranosuke and Imada has to do with being able to teach a bunch of kids all the volleyball you have crammed into that bleached head of yours.” He squinted. “Unless you lost all that knowledge when you put all those chemicals on your hair.”

“ _Hey_!”

Shimada shrugged him off and continued, Takinoue giving a tiny grin from behind him, an appreciative glint in his eye. “That just means that at that time Kuranosuke and Imada were a better fit for the team. You were just as good as them, but it’s not one player who makes a team, Keishin. Only the strongest team of _six_ can stay on the court.”

Keishin looked at Takinoue for help but his friend shook his head, grinning. “I hate to say it, but I agree with Shima on this one. You’re not an idiot, Kei, you would be good at this. I’m just saying, don’t keep this hard no in your mind for once and if the teacher comes up with a good reason you should at least give it a try.”

Then Takinoue paused, tilting his head. “And it’s not like your mom can’t handle the store without you. She did it for 18 years before you took over.”

Keishin glared at his traitorous best friends who were grinning like twin Cheshire cats across the table. He blew smoke through his nostrils and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to give in, at least not in front of the two smug bastards he was drinking with. He had to admit that finding out the Sensei was the cute man he’d seen in the store one morning, tripping over his own feet and fumbling with onigiri, was a moment that he almost gave in. But the idea of turning into his grandfather still niggled at the back of his head. There was no way he wanted to be that person.

But then…

He downed the last of what was left of his beer, slammed a wad of bills on the table and stood, glaring down at his friends who hadn’t wavered in their smiles. “Pay my tab,” he grumbled under his breath. “I’ll see you idiots later. Let’s get together and actually play sometime soon, okay?”

“Sure, Keishin. Maybe you can take the coaching thing and we can set up a practice match with the rest of the guys.”

Keishin grumbled, ignoring Takinoue’s pointed comment, and instead made his way out into the brisk April night. The cold on his skin was bracing and helped to clear his head of the mild haze the single drink had given him. It did chill his front where he was soaked through with alcohol and he internally moaned the loss of good beer to his mindlessness.

He walked towards the store with slow steps, thinking all the while about the large hazel eyes behind lenses and a firm set mouth quivering with determination. His mind began to drift to the years he spent on the Karasuno Volleyball Club, the times he was relegated to the box during a game, never the starting setter.

He loved volleyball, it was his only real passion outside of cooking and playing renju with his younger brother and his cousins. (Usually there was betting involved and Keishin walked away with a decent payout every time.) He enjoyed a lot of things, it was true, but only volleyball really lit that fire that made him feel alive.

Keishin missed that feeling.

But it wasn’t worth swallowing his pride and stepping up to coach a team that his grandfather had left behind.

Sighing deeply, he trudged through the store to the back where his room was, on the second floor of the building, and collapsed into his futon with little care. He had the morning shift at the store the next day because anymore he had _every_ shift at the store. He wondered if his mother would ever approve of hiring a part time employee so that Keishin could have the help he needed, but he brushed off the concern and rolled over, falling asleep within moments, the thoughts of volleyball drifting into his dreams.

———

Morning came with bright skies and a rising sun, and with it, Keishin’s mood rose as well. He was feeling better after a night spent draining his frustrations to his best friends while drinking cheap beer and eating good food. It wasn’t often that he took off a night to relax and kick up his feet rather than retreating from the closed store directly to his bedroom to watch bad 80’s films or simply sleep to make up for the nights he practiced with the Neighborhood Association.

Opening the store, he waited for the usual flow of customers that appeared like clockwork, students buying cheap bento for lunches they forgot to pack, or breakfasts they forgot to eat, and the few teachers who never bothered to make their own coffee buying the cheap bottled stuff from the shelf. 

When things quieted down he felt himself sigh as he picked up a duster and moved to the shelves, his mind thinking about volleyball, his past, and a certain man with large dark green eyes set behind large rectangular frames, and a head of dark messy hair.

Keishin knew that when he was in a good mood he tended to sing under his breath while he worked. His mother had called him out on it more than once, so the humming and words filtered through his lips without call, simple and soft as he smiled at the shelves wondering if he’d get a call from the Sensei again and thinking that maybe he might give in just to see Takeda-sensei’s face when he did.

He glanced over his shoulder to check that there were no customers approaching every so often - it was a habit he’d picked up from his mother, and he felt his heart lurch to a dead stop in his chest as he shouted, stumbling away from the shelf.

There was a familiar head of hair and glasses bright under the glare of the sun staring at him through the front windows.

All positive emotions fled from Keishin as frustration and embarrassment took their places as he raced out the door. “What the hell?!” He shouted, pulling to a stop in front of the now cowering Takeda-sensei. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Specs?”

“Sorry!” Takeda yelped, throwing his hands up. “I just was trying to see if you had any customers in the store!”

Keishin sighed, scratching the back of his neck and looking away. “Not right now, anyway.” He looked back at Takeda-sensei with narrow eyes. “Are you here to ask me to coach _again_?” Under his scrutinizing glare Takeda-sensei seemed to wilt a little but he put on a smile.

“Yes, I was hoping that since I have two free classes right now we could talk more about the team and why I would like you to come and coach them, at least as a trial.”

Takeda-sensei was dressed in his suit again, Keishin noted. When he’d first seen the disheveled looking teacher with the green track jacket, sleep mussed hair, tired eyes, and blushing face, he’d been struck by how cute the other man was. Now, looking at Takeda-sensei’s suit and professionally clean appearance, the only word Keishin could find was _handsome_.

Sure, the suit was slightly too large for Takeda-sensei’s frame, and was most likely second-hand, but it was well cared for, pressed, and a good color for the teacher’s eyes and Keishin felt like he could drown in that deep green if given the chance.

“Look,” Keishin sighed finally. “It’s not that I don’t love volleyball - I do! I even set up the Neighborhood Association team. But I just can’t be a coach. I’d murder myself wanting to play.” He mentally pushed his fears of being unable to live up to his grandfather further behind him. “ _And_ ,” he added with emphasis, “I just can’t go back to that gym.”

Takeda-sensei mistook his words and his eyes widened slightly with a horror stricken look. “Oh no, did something bad happen there?”

Keishin couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips. The sun was lighting up the sensei with a golden halo and the man looked so pure and trusting that the implication that Keishin had some kind of negative history with the gym seemed to distress him so much that Keishin couldn’t help but feel a bubble of amusement form in his chest. The Sensei was too much, too cute, and too close. But he squashed the little bug in the back of his mind begging him to move closer and instead chose to answer Takeda-sensei’s question honestly.

“No, it’s just that there are too many good memories there for me that I feel like I couldn’t try and replace them. My time playing volleyball was precious to me, and nothing could change that, and I don’t want to try.”

Takeda-sensei hummed, nodded, and looked back at Keishin with a glint in his eyes that Keishin should have taken as a warning sign but instead he was too enraptured by the determined set of the other man’s mouth. “So it’s a nostalgia thing then?” Takeda-sensei smiled then, a fierce grin. “So, you’d still say no even if Nekoma High School was on the schedule?”

Keishin’s heart did a double take, kicking up in speed. Here was this beautiful man, with the deepest eyes Keishin had ever seen, throwing an opportunity to rub victory in the face of that smug bastard Nekomata and possibly even get the respect from his grandfather he felt he was missing. Who exactly was Takeda-sensei?

Takeda-sensei was still talking as Keishin’s brain decided to tune back in. “…Nekomata has come out of retirement, and their current coach is the man who was the team setter from around the time you were in High School as well.”

Excitement and the familiar push of competitiveness lit up inside Keishin like a fireworks display. He reached out, latching onto Takeda-sensei’s lapels, yanking him closer towards Keishin’s face.

“ _Are you trying to seduce me?!” Shit!_  His brain shouted back at him, _D_ _on’t say that!_ His outward shouting continued as his brain tried to cover his unintentional slip. “This is bullshit! You just came her to push my buttons! _What time is practice today?_ ”

Takeda-sensei halted abruptly in his apologizing, eyes widening as he looked at Keishin. There was a moment of pause that was only mere seconds but could have been an eternity as Keishin realized they were practically nose to nose, staring down into the deep green eyes of Takeda-sensei. The sunlight was highlighting the flecks of brown in his iris’ and Keishin realized his eyes were a deeper hazel than he had initially realized. 

Takeda-sensei’s glasses were slipping off his nose and he was staring back at Keishin with surprise. ( _Cute_ , Keishin’s mind chimed in.)

Slowly, he released his hold on Takeda’s lapels, turning to head back into the store, his mind buzzing. He reached to undo the apron on his waist and reached for his phone.

“What?” Takeda sounded almost breathless. “You mean you’ll…”

_Start coaching a team I never wanted so I can see your face? Start coaching so I can defeat Nekoma and overcome my grandpa’s legacy of disappointment?_ “I’m not gonna let those underclassmen embarrass our school in front of Nekoma,” he chose instead. “Now say here, I’m going to get changed.”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw how rumbled and flushed Takeda was, hovering in the doorway, hands gripping the doorframe as he watched Keishin move towards the center of the store. 

“Okay!” Takeda chirped eagerly. “Great!”

“Hey mom,” Keishin called back towards the kitchen where he knew his mother was prepping dinner. “Can you watch the store for me?” He could dimly hear the muffled response of the affirmative as he dug his cellphone out and looked for Tattsun’s number. Finding it, he pressed the call button quickly and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” Takinoue answered, sounding confused.

“Hey - uh - Tattsun!” Keishin grinned. “It’s me. Do you think you could get the guys together for a practice match tonight?” He could feel Takeda’s eyes on his back and felt his neck start to flush but he ignored it in favor of trying to get the team together on short notice.

“Keishin?” Takinoue sounded confused but Keishin could hear him grow slowly more clear as he probably adjusted his phone and began to pay attention. “Get a practice match? Against who?”

“Karasuno High.”

There was a long pause and Keishin waited for the fallout. He didn’t have to wait long as Takinoue started shouting in his ear. He yanked the phone back, wincing, as the words floated from the receiver - easily understood.

“ _What do you mean Karasuno High?! You said you wouldn’t take the coaching position, are you finally saying you gave in to the teacher? What the hell are you playing at Keishin?!”_ Keishin took a deep breath and put the phone back to his ear.

“I know, I know, Tattsun, but can you just do me this one favor and get as many of the guys as you can together? I’m going to the school now with Takeda to file the paperwork before practice tonight. I’ll text you the details.”

Takinoue’s crackling sigh filtered through the speakers. Keishin could picture perfectly the look of resignation on Takinoue’s face, eyes pinched shut and hand pressing on the pressure points on his forehead in frustration. “Alright, fine,” Takinoue finally said. “I’ll get the team together, but I expect full details about what changed your mind - and it better not have been something like that sensei’s cute face.”

“Drinks tomorrow,” Keishin agreed. “On me.”

“Alright, see you tonight Keishin.”

Keishin responded his agreement and clicked the phone shut with a sigh. He made his way to the back towards the lower apartment before glancing back at Takeda who was awkwardly shifting from foot to foot in the doorway. “Ah, I’ll be right back Takeda.” He paused. “Is…is that okay?” The question was vague but Takeda lit up.

“Yes! It’s fine, we’ll be working together at least for a short while, just Takeda is fine.”

Keishin felt his cheeks heat but he smiled back before turning back to change out of his oversized orange sweater and into his volleyball kit, which was composed of a red tracksuit with gold accents, and whatever old t-shirt he happened to throw on underneath. He packed a pair of gym shoes in a bag and a towel and an extra water-bottle, before turning to the mirror to look at his reflection.

“You can do this, Keishin. You can take this team to Nekoma and you can win.” He said firmly, staring himself in the eye in the mirror. When his reflection didn’t respond, he sighed, but not before catching sight of the silver glinting in his ears. With resignation, he removed the piercings which he knew would be a problem, not only in volleyball, but at the school as well.

“Let’s do this,” he mumbled under his breath before returning to the storefront and following Takeda towards Karasuno High. He’d walked this road only about a thousand or more times before, but the walk was suddenly very different. Keeping his hands in his pocket, he watched Takeda from the corner of his eye and couldn’t help the small smile that grew on his face. Takeda looked so happy that Keishin couldn’t help but feel a warmth spread through his chest.

“Ah!” Takeda piped up suddenly, turning to Keishin who quickly steeled his expression even as his face started to redden, “Ukai-kun, does this mean you’re planning to have the Neighborhood Association play the Club?”

Keishin chuckled nervously. “Yeah, I can’t coach them for this Nekoma match unless I know where they stand as a team. Once I know what their play strategy is like I can start making adjustments to their training.”

“Oh, I see. That seems reasonable!” He smiled. “We’re playing Nekoma at the end of Golden Week, but I’m sure you’ll be able to bring the team together before then!” He seemed so genuine that Keishin felt his heart stutter.

Keishin cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll do my best, but this is only until the Nekoma game.” _Liar_ , the unhelpful voice in the back of his mind snarked.

Takeda nodded and appeared completely okay with those terms, which seemed odd considering the lengths Takeda had taken to try and convince Keishin to give coaching a try. Not that the teacher could have known that it wasn’t his pleading but his _face_ that was the deciding factor.

“I’ll go ahead and fill out the forms to register you as a coach, though,” Takeda was saying, bringing Keishin back to the present. “And if you change your mind we can file them with the school. If not, well…” He paused and glanced up at Keishin under long lashes that caused Keishin’s heart to trip. 

“We’ll get to that when we get to that,” Keishin finished, voice uncharacteristically soft.

Takeda beamed up at him behind his frames and Keishin felt his face heating, a flush crawling uncomfortably below his collar. “Thank you again, Ukai-kun. I don’t think I thanked you properly before, but thank you so much for coming to give the team a chance, even if it’s just for one game. I know that whatever you can impart to them will be extremely valuable!”

They had reached the school which saved Keishin from having to stammer a mediocre answer in response to one of the nicest compliments he had received in years. Takeda seemed unfazed by Keishin’s stammering as he tugged Keishin’s sleeve towards the building as if Keishin didn’t remember where to find the teachers after seven years out of High School. But he followed willingly, as Takeda babbled more about the team and greeted the few students and teachers they passed in the hall.

Takeda eventually led them to the Teacher’s Office, pushing open the door with a smile. The room was vacant except for one other person, a female teacher sitting at a desk squinting at a stack of papers with an expression filled with unrestrained vitriol. 

“Ah!” Takeda exclaimed. “Tanda-sensei! I thought you had left for the day!” The woman raised her head and her eyes widened slightly at the appearance of Takeda and Keishin. Her expression melted into a smile, however, as she seemed to register who was speaking.

“Oh, Takeda-sensei, it’s good to see you were able to convince Ukai-san to come and coach! Are you here to fill out the permissions forms?” She glanced to a desk that Keishin assumed must have been Takeda’s. “I left the forms on your desk a few weeks ago, they should still be there. If you need another copy, let me know.”

Takeda shook his head and smiled. “No, I still have them. Thank you again Tanda-sensei.” He gave a small bow, before walking Keishin to his desk. He pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to Keishin with a small smile. 

Keishin smiled back, equally as timid, as he sat in the chair next to Takeda’s desk, leaning awkwardly onto the edge to start filling out his personal information in the sudden quiet of the office, Takeda looking over what must have been student’s homework, and Tanda-sensei scribbling away a few desks from them. Keishin embraced the silence and wondered if Tanda-sensei was Takeda-sensei’s girlfriend, even as he pushed his own growing feelings back to the darkest corner of his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic exists in a time warp. I will definitely use a mix of the Japanese dub and the English dub quirks. I really like chibi-chan better than shrimpy or shrimpy-chan. But also I love that Ukai calls Takeda "Specs" in the English dub so he'll be switching that up through the fic.


End file.
